Chapter 66 third quarter

In the autumn of 1964, families in the county began to steam mooncakes in preparation for the Mid-Autumn Festival.The streets and alleys are filled with the sweetness of rose sauce and sesame curd, revealing the joy of harvest and festivals.It was on such a day that the witch doctor, who seldom went out, brought very expensive gifts and money to personally go to the Xipo (that is, a woman who specializes in matchmaking and handling marriages) in the county town who is said to be able to bring the dead back to life. Xipo finds Tianxiang, who is twenty-six years old, a husband's family.The witch doctor changed from her previous gloominess, and spoke very emotionally.She said that the couple had only a few years to live, and they couldn't leave Tianxiang alone in this world, and they had to find her a husband's family as soon as possible.He also said that as long as the man can treat Tianxiang kindly, there will be no other conditions.

It was the first time that Xipo received such a heavy thank you gift. She devoted herself to the witch doctor's entrustment and spent almost half a month visiting young men of the right age who had no family in the county.When Xipo introduces Tianxiang to the man's family, she will always take out a black and white sideways photo of Tianxiang. The face of the woman in the photo is exactly as people have predicted after seeing her back. She is a rare beauty, and she is not inferior to Mai Sanniang back then.But the female dolls here get married when they are seventeen or eighteen years old. Most of the men think that Tianxiang is too old, and they don't understand why she only thinks of hiring someone when she is twenty-six years old. close.Xi Po explained that the witch doctor did not behave like ordinary people, they had fortune-telling, and only at this time would it be auspicious to get married, and the dowry prepared by the witch doctor for his daughter was not only in accordance with the county rules, but also sent Daughter 800 yuan in cash.The latter sentence touched many people.The situation at that time was that the monthly income of regular workers in a country was only 18 yuan. In addition to supporting their families, they might not be able to save 800 yuan in ten or eight years.But considering Tianxiang's age and awe of witch doctors, they still couldn't make up their minds to get married.

The photo of Tianxiang was later passed on to Xiao Ma, an employee of the county food store.Looking at the sideways beauty in the photo who is as beautiful as a fairy and has money, he couldn't put it down at that time.Xiao Ma discussed with his mother, Granny Ma, but Granny Ma disagreed at first.It is unacceptable for an old girl in her twenties to rush to find a son-in-law with such a generous dowry, let alone she is four or five years older than Xiao Ma.But Xiao Ma likes it. He said that the person in the photo is at most twenty years old, and besides, a woman is old enough to hurt people.

Xiao Ma had been engaged to be married before, but the girl was short-lived. In the first month when she was planning to get married, she suddenly fell ill and took medicine from the witch doctor. Not only did she not recover, but she died within three days.That's fate, the witch doctor said flatly.Xiaoma stomped his feet, of course he believed it was his fate, but he was heartbroken that the family spent more than ten years of wronged money for the girl.Now the witch doctor wants to marry a daughter, and it is also a fortune-telling, this is God's will.Considering the current economic situation of the Ma family, Granny Ma reluctantly agreed.

Seeing that the matter had taken shape, Xi Po specially emphasized that the witch doctor was willing to pay such a high price to marry off their daughter, and their daughter was indeed a little flawed. Grandma Ma asked, are you a fool? Xi Po said, where have you seen such a well-rounded idiot? Grandma Ma asked, is she a mute? Xi Po said, don't worry, she is definitely not disabled, but there is a little flaw in her appearance. Xiao Ma took the photo and looked at it carefully, thinking that if such a woman has a problem with her appearance, can there still be beauties in the world?Even if he was killed right now, he wouldn't believe it.At this moment, he felt that he hated meeting the photo in his hand, and wished that the sky would come down from the photo immediately.Xi Po's words are really long-winded.Seeing that his mother was still hesitant, Xiao Ma hurriedly said to Xi Po: "I agree, I agree! When will we meet? When can we get married?"

Grandma Ma said: "That's right! If there is any problem, can we make this marriage, don't you know it as soon as we meet?" Xi Po said: "This is the crux of the problem, because the witch doctor told her daughter's fortune, and they must not meet before they get married." The Ma family just died a daughter-in-law who had never been married, so of course they believed in fate.Since the witch doctor and his wife said so, how could they disobey at will?Granny Ma agreed to pick up a rich daughter-in-law for nothing, and Xiao Ma agreed to it for the beauty in the photo.

Xipo came to Ma's house again the next day and brought the wedding date that the witch doctor had calculated.Xi Po once again emphasized that if you regret it now and don't want to get married, there is still time. After a night of consideration and discussion, Xiao Ma and Granny Ma have made up their minds and firmly expressed that they will never regret it. Xi Po also said that the twenty-eighth day of the eighth lunar month is an auspicious day, and the wedding will be held at night. Xiao Ma nodded again and again, expressing that everything will be done according to the requirements of the woman's family.

Xi Po left happily, and the Ma family happily started preparing the new house and wedding supplies.In fact, there is nothing special to prepare. They cleaned the room that was originally intended to be Xiao Ma's new house. Put the dowry sent by the bride's family. The most important thing is the wedding banquet, don't be careless.Backed by the 800 yuan that the bride was about to bring, and Xiao Ma worked in a food store, he could buy cheap things. Only.Granny Ma asked a few female neighbors who can cook to help, and set up five tables in the yard, and another table in each of the five houses, with a total of ten seats, each with fried sunflower seeds and beets Processed hard candy and bulk barley wine are enough.But eating the wedding wine is secondary, and everyone is waiting to see the mysterious bride of the pony that night.

However, afterwards, a sensible person who attended the wedding said that Xiao Ma's marriage was really weird.For example, according to the customs of the county, the wedding should be held in the morning and the guests should be entertained at noon.The witch doctor couple deliberately set the wedding at night.Xiao Ma had no choice but to light a 60-watt light bulb in each room, temporarily pulled the wires in the yard, and lit three 100-watt light bulbs, which were as bright as daytime.But the wires pulled were old ones. Due to the sudden addition of many bulbs, the voltage was not very stable. Soon all the bulbs flickered on and off, illuminating the figures and the colorful dowry, making the whole scene appear grotesque. and uneasiness, which were ignored at the time.Just as the guests were drinking and drinking to the climax of the wedding wine, the old wires that were temporarily pulled could not bear the sudden increase in load, and finally something went wrong, and the yard and all the houses suddenly became dark. Not too much.Granny Ma lit a few candles, and it was so dim that there was no wedding atmosphere.Fortunately, it was already midnight, and the wedding wine was almost finished, so everyone remembered that they hadn't seen the bride yet.

The bride came in a donkey cart at dusk, covered with a red hijab, and was led into the new house by Xi Po, who was still sitting alone in the new house at the moment.Because the electricity was suddenly cut off, Granny Ma also lit two candles in the new house. The candles were covered with lampshades folded with red paper, making the windows of the new house glow with a dark red light, making it even more mysterious. Everyone was arguing about the new house, and rushed to the door of the new house one after another, only to find that the door of the new house was locked backwards, and people outside could not get in.

People in Ping'an County make a lot of noise about the new house, not to mention other common programs, and they even use sewing needles or awls to prick the newcomers.It is not uncommon for a guarded bride to plug the door backwards early.The person who wanted to start a new house was not reconciled, so he found a wooden stake in the yard and began to knock on the door.Xiao Ma didn't want his bride to suffer, so he stopped the person who hit the door and said, if you want to make trouble, you can make trouble with me. So everyone made a pony fight, smeared pot ashes on his face, and pasted notes on his head.According to the custom, these programs were originally used to quarrel with the groom's father and brother, because Xiao Ma's father had passed away long ago, and he had no brothers, and the bride refused to come out, so we had to quarrel with him.After arguing for a while, everyone felt that it was boring. In autumn night, the weather was already very cold, so they had to leave.When he was about to leave the hospital, some people did not forget to prick Xiao Ma's body with a few needles.The pony is jumping in pain, but he can't scold his mother, let alone get angry at the guests. After the guests left, Xiao Ma washed his face covered with pot ashes, and when he came to the door of the new house, he pushed the door open, presumably the bride opened the door when she heard the courtyard was quiet.Xiao Ma thought, this move should be the bride's love and righteousness to him.He happily entered the new house, and saw the bride was still sitting on the edge of the kang with the red hijab covered, and walked over to lift off the hijab.Under the dark red candlelight, the pony first saw a thick hemp rope-like scar on the bride's left cheek, twisted and frightening.He thought he was dreaming, and pinched his thigh hard, only to realize that the photo of Fairy Meiruo that Xi Po gave him was a right side photo.He woke up like a dream, no wonder Xipo repeatedly emphasized the little flaws of the woman, and no wonder the witch doctor and his wife wanted to marry their daughter like this. Xiao Ma left the new house immediately, and no one knew where he spent that night. The next day Xiao Ma cleaned an empty room and spread out the old bedding, and his newly married life began like this.